What Are the Dangers of Baby Cereal to Newborns?

Milk for Newborn

• The best food for a newborn is mother's milk, although formula is a possible alternative. However, newborns should not eat cereal or any other baby food until they are around 4 to 6 months of age. The content of mother's milk changes as a baby grows to meet a baby's needs. The idea behind giving a newborn baby cereal is that she will sleep longer. It takes longer for a newborn to digest cereal, and many newborns are eating frequently. However, Dr. Alan Greene says that there is no evidence that adding cereal to milk or formula will make a baby sleep longer.

Lack of Digestive Enzymes

• Newborn babies cannot process any other food than milk. They lack sufficient digestive enzymes to digest solid foods. A baby cannot digest solid food until the age of 4 months. Introducing cereal to a newborn baby puts her at risk for developing a wide range of digestive conditions and disease. In addition, many pediatricians agree that eating cereal before 4 months of age can cause food allergies. Food allergies tend to run in families, and it is recommended by the AAP that you do not introduce solid food before 4 to 6 months if there is a risk for food allergy.

Problems With Swallowing

• A newborn baby has little control over his tongue; you can see him pushing his tongue out more or less constantly. Sucking and swallowing actions are not developed until after 4 months. A newborn baby can experience pulmonary problems since he can inhale the baby cereal in his lungs.

Long-Term Consequences

• There have also been discussions linking rice baby cereal to obesity, reports Dr. Alan Greene. Rice cereal is often the first baby cereal that babies come in contact with. The food a baby is introduced to influences long-term food preferences and the baby's metabolic rate. However, obesity is not linked to a specific food; it is the amount of food that is consumed in relation to the exercise that a child is involved in that affects the metabolism.